When did tracking down ministerial credentials become synonymous with “wild goose chase“? YaYa Canada

Bill Kinnon

He calls himself, Dr. Charles McVety. One of Dr? Charlie’s Mac’s jobs is working as the president of Canada Christian College. You’ll find Chuck’s faculty data here. Where he claims a D.Min from California State Christian University. According to the site, his dear wife, also has an honourary doctorate from that famous half Catholic seminary - “Canadian Semimary.” (I’m sure they missed putting the hyphen in - it should have been Semi-Mary.)

But let’s take a quick look at California State Christian University, where Brother Chuck got his Doctorate. On one of the many sites that appears to be inter-related to his world, the Evangelical Order of Certified Pastoral Counsellors of America (located in that famous American city, Burlington, Ontario) they have this to say about CSCU:

Located in beautiful North Ridge California, the CSCU is an accredited Christian educational institution that offers students the option of studying for their degree on-campus or by enrolling in their Distance-Learning program. There are Graduate and Undergraduate Degree Distance Education Programs that allow you to work towards earning your Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral Degree at your own pace. [emphasis added]In the next line, they offer a link to the CSCU site that hasn’t ever worked - sadly, they must not have got the memo that CSCU actually has a website up (as of the last couple of months - and not to be confused with this one, as ToujoursDan pointed out in the comments below).

Here’s a shot of their beautiful North Ridge Campus (which just happens to be around the corner from California State University Northridge- not that one would want to confuse the two). The shot is from Google’s Streetview.
Oddly, this also happens to be home to Soul Christian Assembly Church, led by Dr. Samuel Kim. (Poor Soul seems to have some tax issues - scroll down on this page -although they are a tax exempt organization.) Now Soul’s leader wouldn’t happen to be the same Dr. Samuel Kim who has a degree from Canada Christian College and is a member of the extended faculty of the college, would it? And odder still, the map on the new website shows the campus in Irvine. According to this data, the phone number on the website is a cell phone, so perhaps CSCU actually is a mobile campus - meeting on something as small as a Honda 50 or as large as a semi-trailer. (Perhaps either one is parked behind the building in the above image.) Who knows?

I should add that I called the CSCU number on this link last fall. The number is located in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles. Each time I called the phone was answered by someone who may have been Korean and who spoke only limited English. She assured me this was CSCU but told me to call back. When I did call back I got the same person with the same request. (It didn’t matter what time of day I called.) I haven’t bothered to try the cell phone number.

Let me just say this to the Canadian media who offer a platform to Dr? Charles McVety. If I, a simple blogger, can find these details in a matter of minutes, then why can’t you do the journalistic research you are paid to do to expose this publicity hound who purports to represent Canadian Christians. Is it perhaps that you hold Christians in such disdain that you take any opportunity to make it look like Dr? Chuck represents us all. Let me provide you with a piece of information you’ve chosen to ignore - he doesn’t.

And, Dr. Charles McVety, if I’m wrong and you actually have an earned Doctorate from an accredited Christian University/Seminary or even Semi-Mary, then I apologize. All I’d ask is you produce your Doctoral dissertation and the ATS accreditation for the University where you got your D.Min. That should only take you a matter of moments, right. I’m sure your dissertation is bound and on a shelf in your office. (And Charles, please note that CSCU isn’t on this list - perhaps its an oversite and you’ll want Dr. Kim to get that cleared up.)

While you are at it, since your Master’s is from the school your Dad started and where you are now President, perhaps you could share your Master’s Thesis with us - and introduce us to your faculty advisers. Committed Christian that you are, I’m sure you’d want to clear up any possible misconceptions.

UPDATE: Perhaps I should have titled this post, what’s a few degrees between friends. It would appear (via BD) that another prominent brother may have some issues with his academic qualifications. It will be interesting to see if anyone else investigates this and what the outcome is. (If the brother is found to be untruthful, should one reasonably expect him to step down from his recently granted position of authority.) The WaPo has picked up the story on their blog, On Faith.

UPDATE 2: What’s really funny is Bene D reminded me that I purchased a few websites when I was doing my research: californiastatechristianuniversity.com, .net and .org. They are available to the highest bidder - unless you’d like me to grant you a degree instead. The lineup starts to the right (of course).

UPDATE 3: Read Sonja’s comment and that of ToujoursDan who points to California State Christian University Canada’s website. One has to love the food shots for this site. Incredible. Click here to view a screen cap of the site’s page source that has this line in the meta: California State Christian University - Official Website - Official Website, really!?? (Note: This line is the title bar of the site.) Ownership of the site, normally available on a WhoIs search is hidden behind a Domain by Proxy registration. No transparency here. The Evangelical Order of Certified Pastoral Counsellors of America web registration is also hidden by Domain by Proxy registration as well. Not that I want to see a pattern here or anything. Oh. And BTW. Apparently, EOCPC can grant Doctorate Degrees according to Dr. George Madden’s bio on this page. Who knew?

You also might join a good friend of mine in finding the last name in the Faculty list as being somewhat disconcerting / amusing. Scroll to the very bottom for Dr. Young Girl Oh. Screen cap here.

Note ToujoursDan does a great job of following some of the same rabbit trails on his blog.

See this earlier post of mine that features McVety. See the post from Bene D that provoked today’s post here. See Mark Petersen’s post here. Any “Canadian media” reading this: let any of us know if you’d like some research training. We’d be more than happy to help. We can teach you all about “the Google.”

*The Hour is a CBC program that suggests what might happen in Canada if you mixed the DNA of Colbert and Stewart - and created a Stroumboulopoulos.

June 13, 2008
Used by permission of Bill Kinnon achievable ends.

What has happened since?

Charles McVety has not been as blindly referred to as Dr. McVety by Canadian media. He has not stopped calling himself Dr. at his college, his Canada Family Action Coalition website or at his Miracle Channel show. He has not stepped forward and produced proof of his academic qualifications.

Culture Choc found YaYa Canada made St. Petersburg connections (see the comment section).

California State Christian College has redesigned and updated their website in an attempt to re-brand. There has been a change of address, and new phone number. More international pictures are up, donation buttons a bit more discrete. Typos are corrected, the language is clearer about CCCU not being accredited.

The current featured alumni is a Canadian guy selling himself as Canada’s Life Coach and Mentor and hawking his wares; and under calendar a class is supposedly being offered in Toronto by Rhema Studies and Canada Christian College staff member Everald Lewis.

The library contact listed at the updated site winds up at William Carey International Institute. A different address. Sovereign Grace Church is also listed at the California State Christian University’s new address along with Vision University, which traced back to the EOAPC.
The Galloping Beaver has background in You got that degree where?

Spelling mistakes at the Canada Christian College website have been corrected, dates have been clarified and affiliations such as Liberty University and Oral Roberts University are listed.

Background blogs and more

YaYa Canada May 6, 2008 Degree or not degree?
Is Charlie McVety’s doctoral degree a cheap, Korean knock-off model? Yes, I think it is
absolute astronomy: Canada Christian College
An interesting aside - 10 years later Pr4’s sponsor Frank Klees is running for the leadership of Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.
Ontario Legislature Bil Pr4 1999. An Act respecting Canada Christian College and School of Graduate Theological Studies
Culture Choc: Chuck’s got some ’slaining to do
Red Tory: Paging Dr. McVety
The Galloping Beaver: CBC, are you listening?
unrepentant old hippie: What’s up, “Doc?”
Canuck Attitude: So Many Right Wing Christians, So Few Lions Take 2
An interesting aside - 10 years later Pr4’s sponsor Frank Klees is running for the leadership of Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.
Bene Diction Blogs On: Dr. Charles McVety, Dr. Brian Rushfeldt: What’s a few degrees among friends?
Fun with Charles and no staffers get expelled
California State Christian University

USA
Ethics Daily: Hunt’s Biography Updated, Canadian Religious Leader Comes Under Criticism for Diploma Mill
Ethics Daily: Academic Credentials of Conservative Canadian Leaders Questioned

Definition of diploma mill

A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some such organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.

Definition of honourary degree

An honorary degree [1] or a degree honoris causa (Latin: ‘for the sake of the honour’) is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived the usual requirements (such as matriculation, residence, study and the passing of examinations). The degree itself is typically a doctorate or, less commonly, a master’s degree, and may be awarded to someone who has no prior connection with the institution in question.

Usually the degree is conferred as a way of honoring a distinguished visitor’s contributions to a specific field, or to society in general. The university often derives benefits by association with the person in question.